1904.35.5

Collection type

Object

Description

Pottery lamp of brown ware, slipped black. [MOBB [OPS move] 2/12/2016]

Long description

Pottery lamp of brown ware, slipped black. Pear shape with slightly projecting nozzle. Flat bottom with rounded sides and concave top. The central filling hole is surrounded by a ridge which is then surrounded by a higher ridge from which four thin vertical ridges project and the hind quarters and legs of a frog. Between each of the vertical ridges and between the vertical ridges and the frog legs are areas of incised cross-hatching. The channel that runs the length of the wick nozzle is full of horizontal ridges. There are diagonal ridges with incised diagonal lines, on either side of the wick nozzle, both on the top and and on the bottom of the lamp. There is also a maker's mark on the bottom. [MOBB [OPS move] 2/12/2016]

Geographical reference

Egypt

Africa > Northern Africa > Egypt

Ehnasya

Person

Field collector William Matthew Flinders Petrie

PRM source Committee of the Egypt Exploration Fund

Date / Period

Archaeological period: Roman

Date collected

1903 - 1904

Acquisition information

Donated: 1904

Materials and processes

Material Pottery, Process Decorated, Process Incised, Process Coiled Handbuilt

Dimensions

Height: max 34 mm, Width: max 69 mm, Length: max 82 mm

Object numbers

Accession number: 1904.35.5

Research and responses

In the supplement to the excavation report by Petrie (1905) Roman Ehnasya, Petrie notes that the lamps were acquired from several sources in addition to the excavation in order to produce his corpus. E.g. see p.4. of the supplement: "As the excavations of the houses at Ehnasya yielded many lamps which could be fairly dated, it seemed worth while to attempt a corpus of Romano-Egyptian lamps. The material consisted of the dated examples from houses, undated from excavations, lamps found by the sebakh diggers and bought by our party, and lamps bought from dealers at Medinet el Fayum. I have not distinguished between these various groups, as it is clear that the great majority were made at some distance and brought by trade to these towns, so that they might as well be found in one place as in another close by." Therefore, the lamps in the Pitt Rivers might not necessarily be from the excavation. [AS 12/09/2012]

This lamp is identical to E.65 shown on pl. LXVIV of Petrie, W.M.F. 1905. Roman Ehnasya (Herakleopolis Magna). London: Egypt Exploration Fund. [AS 30/10/2012]

The provenance is probably Ehnasya el-Medina, a village at the mouth of the Fayum located just above the ancient site of Herakleopolis Magna, excavated by Petrie from 1903-4; see W.M.F. Petrie, 1904, Ehnasya [RTS 8/7/2004].

Associated publications

Petrie, W.M.F. 1905. Ehnasya. London: Egypt Exploration Fund. [AS 15/06/2012] Petrie, W.M.F. 1905. Roman Ehnasya (Herakleopolis Magna). London: Egypt Exploration Fund. See pages 5-7. [AS 26/06/2012]

Search terms: Lighting, Pottery, Figure, Lamp